Attendance

Excellent attendance is classified as attendance above 98%.

Good attendance is classified as attendance between 95% to 98%; Each student should aim for attendance above 100%.

Absences must be reported by calling 01732 500600 and choosing Option 1 (student absences) to leave a recorded voicemail. Alternatively, absences can be reported by emailing Mr Hines on attendance@latonbridge.org.uk. When reporting an absence please ensure you clearly state your child’s name, year group and reason for absence.

An appropriate reason for your child’s absence includes being too unwell to attend school, please refer to the NHS guidance on ‘Is my child too ill for school?’. Please be aware, the guidance urges parents to send their child to school in the case of coughs, colds and sore throats. 

It is also appropriate for a child to be absent due to religious observance, as well as other exceptional circumstances which have been given Mr Crow’s permission (eg. the funeral of a close family member).

Please report absences by 9:00 am at the latest. 

It is necessary to report each day of absence until your child returns back to school. 

Unless advised by a medical practitioner the academy will not request 48 hours clear of symptoms such as sickness and diarrhoea if the student feels well enough to attend.

Children are no longer required to do a Covid-19 lateral flow test. However, if you choose to test your child they should be present in school unless they have a high temperature or do not feel well enough to do their normal activities. Furthermore, the NHS states that “if your child has mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough and feels well enough, they can go to school.”

Students need to have passed through the front gate at 8:40 am each morning in order to be ready for the 8:45 am lineup on the playground. Students are given one warning for lateness each module and each late instance following this will result in a centralised detention.

Medical evidence for absence relating to physical or mental health are required for every absence after the fifth day of absence in the academic year. Medical evidence can be any of the following: GP appointment card, photograph of a prescription, direct letter from the GP to LATon or a diagnosis letter. Please send any medical evidence to attendance@latonbridge.org.uk

Unauthorised absences are often given when too many absences are taken without medical evidence or an absence which was not agreed prior to the date of absence. Unauthorised absences can be given for absences for which the reason of the absence is unclear or undetailed. When students begin to receive multiple unauthorised absences we will send letters home to make parents aware of this; we may also invite parents to the Academy to discuss the barriers to attendance.

We would ask that parents try to get appointments outside of school hours. However, if this is not possible then any appointment taken within school hours must be accompanied by one of the forms of medical evidence in order for us to be able to authorise the absence.

No, if a child is taken out of school during term-time for a holiday then this is likely to result in a Fixed Penalty Notice by the Kent County Council for a child’s non-attendance. Fixed Penalty Notices are £60, rising to £120 if they are not paid after 21 days. 

If a parent does not ensure the regular attendance of their child then they could be guilty of an offence under section 444, Education Act 1996.

Students below 90% attendance are categorised as being ‘persistently absent’. Research suggests that students who miss 17 days during the academic year are likely to get one grade less than they would have achieved had they attended regularly. The table below shows a running total of the number of days off each Module to cause persistent absenteeism.

If a student is below 90% attendance then parents will have received letters informing of low attendance as well as the impact and consequences of low attendance. Should there be no improvement following this, we will invite parents to the Academy in order to discuss the barriers to attendance and see what support we can put in place to break any barriers. If attendance continues to decline, despite agreed actions from the meeting being put into place, then we would ask for support from Loveday Potter at Kent County Council in order to identify whether there is anything we are missing in the way of support. On the rare occasion that attendance still falls despite the support being provided, then we would make an AS1 Statutory Referral to Kent County Council.